Leicester are cantering to a home semi-final and probably a ninth consecutive Twickenham final after a forgettable five-try beating of an underpowered Wasps side who looked to have their minds elsewhere. After Wasps' European labours last week their coach, Dai Young, made seven changes, Leicester responding just before the kick-off by giving three England internationals the day off and still pocketing a try bonus point four minutes into the second half when Ben Youngs darted in for his second.

Adam Thompstone completed the job before Elliot Daly scooted home from 60 metres to show the sell-out 24,000 crowd what they were missing. Wasps, once the big thorn in Tigers' paw, have not won at Leicester in five seasons and have an away record showing 23 defeats in 25 games. "They picked a side not to win," said the Leicester director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, "but we'll accept the result."

Having lost their last five Premiership matches, Wasps remain eighth, like Bath losers in the weekend race for a Heineken Cup spot. They are now three points behind Exeter in sixth spot with Bath sandwiched between them. Leicester are not yet guaranteed a home semi-final but, with Bath to visit before a final game at home to London Irish, it is in touching distance.

Cockerill clearly thought so when he rested Geoff Parling, Tom Croft and Tom Youngs, all of whom trained on Saturday. But after all the energy and passion expended in a losing European cause at Toulon last weekend, the game took a while getting started, the first quarter a colourless affair marked only by a couple of Toby Flood penalties and one or two breaks from Anthony Allen that suggested the Wasps midfield might not be as secure as the Bank of England.

Then, from the second scrum of the game, the Leicester pack got up their first head of steam, Manu Tuilagi took the Allen route through the middle and the hooker Rob Hawkins came within a whisker before Youngs dived through a hole conveniently close to the ruck.

Flood missed the conversion but Leicester were under way and next it was the forwards who took their reward for previous hard work. Niall Morris, Allen and the backs took the ball up the right and, when the switch came, it was the back-row pair of Jordan Crane and Steve Mafi who worked the second-row, Graham Kitchener, into the corner.

Again Flood missed the kick, as he had done a couple of penalties, but with the fly-half Nicky Robinson and high-scoring wing Christian Wade already back in the Wasps sick bay, things were starting to look ominous. The replacement Tommy Bell landed a wind-assisted penalty to make it 16-3 but then the video referee took an age denying Thompstone a third Leicester try after some deft work from Hawkins and the wing Morris looked to be heading for the right corner until the Wasps lock James Cannon hauled him down.

Twice denied, Leicester took a more certain route – the driven lineout – Mafi taking the ball at the front before the pack crowded round to rumble over the Wasps line at a canter. Hawkins came up with the ball, some reward for earlier close shaves.

Again Flood missed the conversion but, with Young's side unable to hang on to the ball, the England fly-half's kicking hardly looked like undermining the outcome and four minutes into the second half a game that had been over for a while as a contest was put to bed with Leicester's bonus point try.

"We couldn't handle the physicality the Tigers brought to the game. We were well beaten," Young said. "You don't have to be a rugby expert to know we have to improve. The top three or four are in a different place from where we are. Even when we were in fourth place I said I didn't think we had the squad to maintain that."